Method of manufacturing fibrous insulation



Patented Aug; 10, 1943 unis srss METHOD or a. AING rnmous WSUIATION George B. Brown, Martinsvilie, N. J., assignor to Johns-Manville Qorporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York No Drawing." Original application January 19, 1940, Serial No. emcee. Divided and thisapplicstion Januarylfi, 1941, Serial No. 374,703

(31a. (Cl. 92-55) This inventionrelates to the manufacture of structural fibrous insulating sheets of comparatively low heat conductivity and high strength and particularly to an improved method of making such a product in which calcium silicate binder is formed in contact with'the fibres bound thereby and in the presence of a relatively small proportion of water.

It is an object of the invention toprovide a strong yet non-brittle sheet or block containing a large proportion of fibres and preserving in general the fibrous nature while being substantially impermeable to air. Another object is to make a fibreboard that is fireproof, relatively inexpensive, strong but lightweight, durable when exposed to the action of weather or to soaking in water for a substantial period of time, and has relatively low thermal conductivity, Other objects and advantages will appear from the more detailed description that follows.

The invention comprises the herein described novel method of making a sheet in compressed and hardened condition including. a large proportion of fibres and a binder therefor, said binder' including the reaction product of a wet mixture of hydrated lime and finely divided silica of very low density. The invention comprises the making of such a sheet by incorporating therein a substantial proportion of amphibole asbestos fibres. of making such a product in which there iSJ formed an aqueous mixture of the selected fibres, hydrated lime and finely divided silica such as diatomaceous earth, shaping and strongly compressingthe mixture against a filtering member to remove the major portion of the water present and then autoclaving the shaped and compressed material at an elevated temperature to cause practically complete reaction of the lime with the silica, the silica being used preferably 40 in amount in slight excess of the stoichiometric proportions.

In making the articles of the present 'invention, there is used a method which comprises forming an aqueous mixture with the selected fibres, hydrated lime and finely divided silica,

shaping and strongly compressing the mixture, to expel therefrom a large portion of the water present and form a densified mixture, and then subjecting the shaped and compressed material to an elevated-temperature while minimizing the evaporation of water. This latter step is preferably accomplished by placing the shaped prod uct in an autoclave in the presence of steam at superatmospheric pressure. There is thus caused The invention comprises also the method 30 a substantially complete reaction between the lime and the finely divided silica. Finally, the

product is dried at a tempertaure above the boiling point of water to remove free water.

Particularly desirable results have been obtained when the finely divided silica is diatomaceous earth. Such silica not only causes a quick reaction with the lime during the heating at an elevated temperature, but also makes possible the production of a lightweight article suitable for use as a, ship panel or a thermal insulating wall board. It further permits the use of the binder in such-relatively small proportions with respect to the weight of the fibres asto preserve non-brittlesness and appreciable flexibility in the finished article.

For the fibrous component l have used to advantage amphibole asbestos fibres which include amosite, anthophyllite, crocidolite, 'actinolite and tremolitefibres, it is desirable that the fibrous components used in the manufacture of the prod- .uct of my invention have a water of crystallizafinished product and should not exceed 1 (measured in B. t. u.s, inches per hour per square foot T per F.) on a product having a density in the (order of 40 lbs. per cu. ft. when measured at a.

mean temperature of F. Amosite fibres have a water of crystallization of less than 5% and when made into a sheet, according to the method herein described, the resulting product has a thermal conductivity of less than 1. It is, therefore, recommended that amosite fibres be used either entirely or in large proportions in the .preparation of the product 01' my invention. The amosite fibre content may be modified to some degree by replacing small proportions of the amosite fibres wfih chrysotile fibres or with wood screenings. the amosite fibres should not be replaced with more than about 10 to 25% of the modifying material based on the total weight of the finished product. The physical characteristics of the finished product which include fibrous materials other than amosite fibres may, however, be less a desirable than those products containing only It is, however, desirable that.

. by weight of amosite fibres to 100 parts by weight of the finished bonded article in dried condition. Also, I have used fibrous components in the proportion of 35 to 60 parts by weight to 100 parts of the finished dried article.

The method of manufacture is illustrated in greater detail by the following more specific example:

There is formed a mixture including 50% of amosite fibres, 25% hydrated lime and 25% of comminuted diatomaceous earth and water in the amount to permit the suspension of the solid ingredients in a fluid composition. The quantity of water is about 1500% of the total weight of the solid ingredients in the mixture.

The mixture is then agitated to form a. slurry, the slurry-is charged to the bed of a press having a filtering body such as a firmly supported wire screen anchored to a drain so that the slurry fiows over the screen and forms a layer of substantially uniform thickness over all parts thereof. The amount of slurry used is selected to give the desired final thickness of the compressed sheet which is approximately .5 to 1.5 inches.

Strong compression is then applied as by bringing down the ram of a hydraulic press upon the mixture on the filtering bed. The pressure on the ram may be varied within limits from about 200 to 1300 lbs. per square inch although I have found that a pressure in the order of 500 lbs. gives a very desirable product from the standpoint of proper balance between strength and lightness of the material.

During the strong compression described, a large proportion of the water in the slurry is forced therefrom and the mixture is compressed to form a densified and thoroughly consolidated mass including a very small proportion of water in comparison with the amount originally present. Thus the compressed product ordinarily contains about 40 to 70 parts of water to 100 parts of solid present.

The reaction of the lime and the silica which will be described in the next step occurs there-.

results in that they possess low heat conductivity and a high modulus of rupture.

The shaped and compressed material is re-,

cate hydrated with the fibres makes possible additional hardening of the binder by drying.

The reaction described is effected quite satisfactorily in an autoclave heated by live steam at superatmospheric pressure as, for example, at a pressure of to per square inch. In the autoclaving step I allow the steam to enter slowly from an inlet so that the pressure is not built up suddenly to the maximum desired. Thus, I have raised the pressure on the gauge from 0 to 150# at the rate of about 25# per hour to minimizesplitting or swelling of the sheet during the steam curing operation.

The steam cured product is then subjected to thorough drying, preferably at a temperature well above the boiling point of water to cause the removal of substantially all free water from any calcium silicate that may exist in gelatinous or other form intimately associated with a large excess of water as distinguished from water of hydration that is expelled only at very high temperatures. Thus, I have dried the product at a temperature of about 250 F. for about 48 hours. After drying, the product maybe shaped to the exact size desired. One face of the sheets as made in the press is generally a practically plane surface. F

A sheet so made has been found to weigh approximately 40# to the cu. foot, has a specific thermal conductivity (measured in B. t. u.s, inches per hour per square foot per F.) of only about .55 to be fireproof, flexible to an appreciable extent, strong (having a modulus of runture in the order of about 1800 lbs. per sq. in.) and impermeable to air to such degree that the board is adapted for use as structural panels, as,

pounds per square inch, and the thermal con-' ductivity is less than 1 when measured at mean temperatures of 100 /1 In using the term "mean temperature," I refer to the temperature at a point half way between the opposite walls or faces of the product.

During the autoclaving step described above, I confine the sheets under weights or mechanical pressure in such a manner as to cause welding together at positions where permanent cracking would otherwise develop as steam escapes from the sheets. In this manner the development of cracks and attendant weakening of the structure are minimized. Thus the sheets being steam cured may be stacked one upon another with impermeable material as for example, two or three sheets of asbestos-cement board of inch thickness, each laid over the top of the stack, At the bottom, the stack may rest upon the steel fioor of a conventional handtruck. Obviously, if the stack is very tall intermediate spacing members may be used to permit access of the heating medium, such as the steam, to the interior of the stack.

As another means of minimizing cracking, there may be used a small proportion of a skeletonizing agent admixed into the composition of the sheets and allowed to set or harden before the sheets are subject to autoclaving. For this purpose there may be used a small proportion of hydraulic cement as, for example, to 20% of Portland cement or a calcium aluminate cement based on the weight of the finished article. The cement is thoroughly mixed with the other raw materials, the composition then formed into sheets as described, with cement in the sheet allowed to set substantially fully, or to a large extent, then the sheet autoclavecl in the each 10 mols of magnesia.

This application is a continuation in part of my copending application, Serial No. 91,268 filed July 18, 1936, issued as Patent No. 2,247,355,

and a division of application, Serial No. 314,692,-

filed January 19, 1940.

It will be understood that the details given are for the purpose of illustration, not restriction, and that variations within the spirit of the invention are intended to be included in the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In' making a bonded product having a high modulus of rupture and low thermal conductivity, the method which comprises forming an intimate mixture including amosite fibres in large proportion constituting at least 50% of the dry weight of the mixture, hydrated lime, finely divided diatomaceous earth and water, shaping and strongly compressing the mixture against a filtering member, to expel a major portion of the water therefrom and produce densification, and then subjecting the compressed and shaped material to an elevated temperature while minimizing the evaporation of water, to cause reaction between the lime and finely divided diatomaceous earth with the production of a binder for the fibres.

2. In making a bonded product having a high modulus of rupture and low thermal conductivity, the method which comprises forming an intimate aqueous slurry mixture of a major dry Weight proportion of asbestos fibres includin amosite fibres in substantial proportion constituting at least 25% of the dry weight of the mixture, together with minor dry weight proportions of hydrated lime, and finely divided diatomaceous earth, shaping and strongly compressing the mixture against a filtering member, to expel a major portion of the water therefrom and produce densification, and raising the compressed and shaped material gradually to an elevated temperature, adapted to cause reaction between the lime and finely divided diatomaceous earth with the production of a binder for the fibres, while minimizing the evaporation of water from the said material.

3. In making a bonded product having a high modulus of rupture and low thermal conductivity, the method which includes forming an inti mate aqueous slurry mixture of a major dry weight proportion of asbestos fibres including amosite fibres constituting at least 25% of the dry weight of the mixture, together with minor substantially stoichiometric proportions of hy-v drated lime and finely divided diatomaceous earth, shaping and strongly compressing the mixture against a filtering member, to expel a major portion of the water therefrom, subjecting the compressed and shaped material to an elevated temperature while minimizing the evaporation of water therefrom, to cause reaction between the lime and diatomaceous earth, and then thoroughly drying the product at a temperature above the boiling point of water.

4. In the method described in claim 3, the improvement which comprises confining the shaped material under mechanical pressure during the step of subjecting it to an elevated temperature, so that development of cracks in the material during that step is minimized.

5. In the method described in claim 3, the improvement which comprises admixing a small proportion of a readily hardenable hydraulic cement skeletonizing agent into the said mixture and hardening the said agent before the material is subjected to the said elevated temperature to cause the said reaction.

- GEORGE B. BROWN. 

